A bit of progress. Putting the YM240D to work

[woolyAcres]

That ebay unit looks like a VERY clean version of mine so I suspect California is right. This must have been a factory option at some point. Of course, mine has the coffin sized bucket, but that's clearly a later development.

 

[duanew1]

I just wanted to show the pic of my bushhog. It is a very similar one to the one you have woolyAcres. It just looks a bit older than yours. Looking closer to the photos, mine has the pin in the lower holes. It has no problem lifting it and the amount depends on the length of the top link.

One thing that I found interesting is the amount of additional weight the YM2001 has over the YM2000. According to the specs, it could be as much as 400-500 pounds. I shut off the engine with the bushhog raised in the pic and stood on top of the mower to see if it would raise the front end. I weigh a little over 200 pounds and I could stand on the back edge of the bushhog and the front wheels did not raise. I had to bounce a bit to get them to raise. I found this interesting. I guess this is why I have never had trouble steering with the bushhog in place.

 

[woolyAcres]

@duanew1-

Thanks for posting that photo. I agree that looks a lot like mine. Which pin location do you use when connecting the top-link to the tractor, the upper or lower? California pointed out that I should be using the lower one. I have yet to try that. I'm hoping that will allow more 'rotation' as the lift arms rise. My problem seems to be that the top-link and the lift arms end up fighting each other. Maybe moving down will help that.

It also appears that the rear wheel is pinned in the rear-most location. I'm guessing, using that rear-most location raises the BH as much as possible is that right or do I have that backwards?

I expect my 240 should be able to pick up that BH nearly as well as yours. I've got the extra weight of 4WD and an FEL up front to balance it.

We had snow on covering the ground this morning but tomorrow is forecasted to be warmer and sunnier so hopefully I'll have time to make a few changes and test the results.

Again, thanks for posting that photo.

 

[duanew1]

Which pin location do you use when connecting the top-link to the tractor, the upper or lower?

I have mine in the top pin on the tractor. All I have to do is shorten the top link to raise the rear of the bushhog more but it is set up for good mowing right now with plenty of up and down movement. The rear of the mower is about 4 inches off the ground in the pic. I believe that you may be able to lift it higher with the pins and the top link bracket in the lower holes on the bushhog.

It also appears that the rear wheel is pinned in the rear-most location. I'm guessing, using that rear-most location raises the BH as much as possible is that right or do I have that backwards?

If you are talking about the rear wheel adjustment, then I have my bushhog set up to run very high. I have been reclaiming land and can't see what I am running over. The area that I have been running through is similar to the surrounding areas in the pic. As soon as I get everything under control I will lower it back down a bit.

 

[clemsonfor]

I remember when first bought my tractor 6 years or so ago i had fields that looked like that. some are just now getting to more grass like and the briars and stuff are being out competed. I sprayed all the sweetgum to get it gone..should do the same with the briars. I also noticed that i have sandspurs or cockle burrs or whatever there called in one field like its most of the grass in one area. Pretty sure i can thank the highway mowing crew for spreading those and me for tracing and slinging them around the field that is next to the road!!!

 

[woolyAcres]

I have mine in the top pin on the tractor. All I have to do is shorten the top link to raise the rear of the bushhog more but it is set up for good mowing right now with plenty of up and down movement. The rear of the mower is about 4 inches off the ground in the pic.

I looked at this again today briefly. Regardless of which top-link hole I use (on the tractor) I can't get this to lift off the ground. I can continue tightening the top link so much that the 'float' in the top link is removed. Even in this state I can't not lift the rear-wheel off the ground. When I go to raise the BH as much as possible, I can see my pump pressure jump to over 2500psi and I can hear the relief valve bypassing pressure but the rear wheel is still touching the ground.

Strangely when normally operating the BH with the rear wheel firmly on the ground and the lift arms raised only enough to keep the side rails from dragging/marking the ground my hydraulic pressure is not zero. In fact, it's much closer to ~800psi. Furthermore while operating I occasionally need to raise the 3PT to bring the side rails of the BH back up out of the dirt even though I never lowered it. It's drifting down.

My best guess is that, much like my FEL, pressure is leaking by in the 3PT lift. So much so the feedback is nearly always necessary to keep the lift from dropping completely. I think it also explains why the 3PT is capable of lifting things like my box blade, but only when the pump is constantly providing pressure. In the case of the BH, it's heavy enough that the lift capacity lost to the leaking pressure prevents the 3PT from lifting it off the ground. Instead, the pump hits bypass, the tractor strains a bit, the extra pressure the pump is producing is just leaking by some seal in the rear, and the 3PT fails to lift as much as it should.

Anyone care to comment on my diagnosis? Are the things I've described consistent with pressure leaking by in the 3PT lift? I know my rear lift drops over time. I can't really test it with the BH because the rear is already on the ground. I'd have to change over to my box blade to do another test of that but I'm sure it leaks down. I thought it took many tens of minutes to leak down but maybe it's less when the tractor is off. I have also closed the stop valve under my seat and watched the pressure in the hydraulic system climb to something like 2500psi where I start to hear the bypass valve.

I know clemsonfor and others have replaced seals in the rear. Maybe that should be on my list for spring maintenance?

 

[winston1]

If your pressure is going to 2500 and the wheel isn't coming off the ground it would seem to me the mower is to heavy for the tractor. I googled trying to find the weight of that mower but came up empty. The relief valve on the 240 is suppose to be set at 2200psi.

 

[clemsonfor]

i too like winston think maybe that BH is too heavy and it just cant lift it. Not necessarily too heavy of weight but it has too much leverage by being too far behind the tractor and not allowing you to lift it. There is a chance if the boxblade was that heavy it could lift it as its closer to the tractor .

Also the closer you move the verticle lift arms to the tractor to gain lift height you also reduce your lift capacity. My ym2000 can easily pick up my bush hog brand 6ft finish mower. It weighs 600 pounds It can even lift it if i stand on it and i am 225#. But it is closer to the tractor and does not hang as far back as a 5ft bush hog.

Also while your cutting and not messing with the handle and its not vibrating down or anything (there is a check setting thing that you can set so that your handle will only go down to a certain height and you can tighten the thumb screw if yours still has it. This will help eliminate the possiblility of it vibrating down) and your feedback linkages in the 3pt are right...when the implement drops while it is at a set height the valve will automatically bring it back up to height without you pulling on the handle.

One thing i did think of is that when i first got my tractor, the valve had a problem and was allowing too much fluid to bypass or something causing the fluid to bypass constantly or something and overheat. I greatly lost lift power while running and if could not hold mower up while mowing well and it was very slow to lift. They told me to fix it to put 90 weight in it and replaced the valve. I told them that was not right and the valve was the problem. that was the problem and its never returned. I am wondering if you have the correct fluid or is it still the correct viscosity? I wonder since your more up north if somebody put something like AW15 or 22 in there?

 

[woolyAcres]

If your pressure is going to 2500 and the wheel isn't coming off the ground it would seem to me the mower is to heavy for the tractor. I googled trying to find the weight of that mower but came up empty. The relief valve on the 240 is suppose to be set at 2200psi.

I can't find a weight for this cutter either. What I could find on the Woods site for new 5' cutters is they range from about 450-600lbs. With that weight hanging 3 or more feet off the back of the tractor, I can see 150# making a difference between lifting and not lifting. Because [FONT=Arial, CalibriVerdana, Geneva, sans-serif]duanew1 was having success with his I figured my 240 should as well. Tractordata.com says YM2001 weights about 2039lbs. The info I have on my YM240D says it weights about 1960lbs (without loader). I'd venture that with a loader my YM240 weighs something over 2400lbs. So, in terms of tractor weight/counterbalance I don't think there should be any problem.

What I can't find is what the 3PT SHOULD be able to lift. Does anyone know what that number is for either the YM240(D) OR the YM2000(D)?


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[woolyAcres]

i too like winston think maybe that BH is too heavy and it just cant lift it. Not necessarily too heavy of weight but it has too much leverage by being too far behind the tractor and not allowing you to lift it. There is a chance if the boxblade was that heavy it could lift it as its closer to the tractor .

Also the closer you move the verticle lift arms to the tractor to gain lift height you also reduce your lift capacity. My ym2000 can easily pick up my bush hog brand 6ft finish mower. It weighs 600 pounds It can even lift it if i stand on it and i am 225#. But it is closer to the tractor and does not hang as far back as a 5ft bush hog.

If you're standing on your finish mower that's ~800lbs (600lbs + 220lbs) with the center of gravity probably 3.5' behind the lift pins (where the implement attaches to the tractor). That's 2800ft-lbs. If the center of mass for my BH is 5' behind the lift pins (which seems pretty far to me) and it weighs 500lbs, there should be force left over right (2800ft-lb vs 2500ft-lb). I didn't include the length of the lift arms and maybe I should?


It could certainly be that this cutter is too heavy for my tractor. I need to switch back to the box blade and pay more attention to the behavior of the 3PT lift and the pressure. The constant need for pressure has me concerned as does the drifting down. I don't think the regular need to lift it has to do with the handle vibrating down, but before ruling that out I really need to pay attention and watch what happens.

I'm interested in knowing what's going on here and understanding the limits of my tractor. Getting the loader worked out is still first on my repair/spending list. Who knows, maybe my bad FEL valve is allowing fluid to leak and causing some of these problems. I don't understand all this well enough to rule that out.